Valentine's Day

With the annual agony of Valentine's Day about to hit us once again (last year I only got one card and that was from my dog so it doesn't really count!), it's time for Economics students to give some thought to the Economics behind the situation.

Here's an interested e-lesson from the Economics America which is a good place to start:

http://www.umsl.edu/~econed/lesson2.htm

If you want to find out more about the different types of roses you can buy - and some cheaper alternatives for those on your B-list - you can read about them here:

http://www.flowers.org.uk/press/press-a%20rose%20is%20a%20rose-2006.htm

Here's a tip by the way, generated from personal experience, always make sure the flowers are delivered by a handsome young man in uniform in a public place when your target is surrounded by her friends so that she is making them all jealous by receiving them - it's worth the extra tip to achieve that effect!

Also, remember that a single red rose in a presentation box has exactly the same effect as a giant bouquet - and it's much cheaper.

Meanwhile, economist Brian Kaplan looks at why women bother with a man who has already shown that he can be unfaithful in his always excellent EconLog. In particular, he relates it to the lemons problem of imperfect information - except in this case of course, the woman usually knows that she is buying a lemon, so it's not quite the same thing:

http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2006/02/lemons_for_vale.html

Perhaps Valentine's Day is summed up best by Russian economist Michael Kouliatvtsev:

http://faculty.philau.edu/KouliavtsevM/valentines_day.htm

And finally, if you're the sort of boring person who wants to find out who St Valentine really was, it's all here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Valentine